Well-behaved San Francisco teenagers compete in the Mobilgas "Safety Economy Run," driving their cars around the Bay Area under the supervision of experienced racing drivers.

Go to Part II


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Davis (Sid) Productions
Sponsor: General Petroleum Corporation
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Car culture: Youth; Hot rods; San Francisco: Scenics: Historical

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Visual16 - - May 29, 2007
Subject: Mobilgas Economy Run
This one made several years after Show Em the Road, also by Sid Davis about the Mobilgas Economy Runs. You can fit both films (make sure you download BOTH pts.I and II for both films) on a TV watchable DVD. The volume in Show em needs to come up a bit, too.

Very amusing film about a high school girl's discovery of the Mobilgas Economy Runs, which were being run nationwide. She gets one started at Peninsula High, because there have been problems with hoodlums and their "shot-rods"! No more dates!

Worth watching for the malt-shop dialog alone!

Reviewer: ERD - - March 20, 2006
Subject: Enjoyable 1950's film
I found this film very enjoyable. It was fun watching the teenagers of the mid 1950's. Maybe the film was idealistic, but it had some good points on getting teens to drive safely. Good script, well filmed, directed, and acted.

Reviewer: tvtuffguy - - January 13, 2006
Subject: A review of reviewer spuzz
Spuzz, you're a filthy mouthed, illiterate moron and should be embarrassed every time you post your idiotic "reviews".

Reviewer: funwithfilm - - June 3, 2005
Subject: cool hot rods
nice nice nice there are som really cool cars to look at in this film a very nice corvette and a pink thunderbird just to name a few.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - May 29, 2005
Subject: Meanwhile in squaresville..
Another alternate universed Sid Davis flick here folks. In this movie, the kids in San Fransisco decide how to solve the racing problem there (of one kid) is to have a "Safety Economy Run" where the main purpose is not about speed.. but about mileage and safety! Joy! Narrated by a whiny voiced and observant teenage girl (which is refreshing for a Sid Davis Film) this film features many clean clean CLEAN teenagers doing wholesome things like going to the malt shop, dancing and other cute things. Heck even the main 'bad' guy in the film, who doesnt want to race is quite a pussy as well lol. The race itself looks plenty dull, and I can't imagine who on earth would find this exciting.

Reviewer: neffer - - January 15, 2003
Subject: Oh, to be young, white and driving around in San Francisco!
Another Sid Davis "classic" featuring a "Safety Economy" run around the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950s. This two-parter stars a very plucky young lady and her jive-talking, sock-hopping, malt-shop friends. One pal, a hot-rodder named "Tay" boasts some hilarious entertaining doggerel about his driving. When the adults oppress our friends' need to, er, drive, the kids decide to host a "safety-economy" race (sponsered by Mobil and AAA) to prove that teenagers are responsible drivers. The object of the race was to drive around the city within a designated period of time while avoiding penalties like speeding or violating traffic laws. The driver would be accompanied by an adult "observer" who would record any penalty during the drive.

The film, including the race itself, features some great footage of San Francisco in the 50s. The appears-to-be-extremely-white school, called Peninusla Union High for the film, is actually Lincoln HS in the now heavily-Asian-and-other-minorities-inhabited Richmond section. The idea that a bunch of clean-cut, WASP teen-agers can go around and drive freely and safely around the city seems such a novelty now (and adds to the camp factor to this film).

Shotlist

About well-behaved teenagers who compete in the Mobilgas Economy Run. Excellent teens dancing in San Francisco malt shop.

This film, narrated by a teen-age girl, is an account of how she got her high school involved in the "Safety Economy Run" of the California AAA (supervised by Ray Burton in San Francisco).
Because of one bully who skids the tires of his hot rod outside the school the neighbors have been complaining, the school had threatened to close the student parking lot, and her father was no longer allowing her to go out. Through her investigation into the "Safety Economy Run",
four schools in the San Francisco Area become involved in a competition of safe driving and gasoline conservation which receives positive press coverage and improves the reputation of teen-age drivers. The selected course of the competition allows many scenic shots of San Francisco to be included.



Close-up of newspaper with headline, "High School Area Residents Protest Teen Age Car Nuisance".
Young lady on telephone with red stove behind her
Young man on telephone
California State Capitol building in Sacramento
Young woman reading a newspaper, standing on blacktop, shot from above
Young woman in a telephone booth using a black rotary dial telephone
Business man behind a large wooden desk talking to young woman, seated
Nun and three females in uniform walking out of a doorway
Seattle's floating bridge over Lake Washington
City of Portland Police car with insignia and officer looking out of passenger side window
Bakersfield -- shot of car engine, people being weighed outdoors, driving on road by hillside with oil wells and refineries
Men cooking steaks on outdoor grill, steaks on long sticks for rotating
A line of people with paper plates being served beans, etc.
A baton twirler in front of a static marching band in uniform playing
Long car lines in Mobil gas station
Teenagers in malt shop dancing
Teenagers talking at diner booth with shakes and books
Teenagers in auto shop
High school assembly
Teenagers seated at school desks
Close-up of teen-age girl laughing
Executive men in business suits sitting at long luncheon table with white tablecloth, clapping
Individual close-up head shots of teen-agers speaking as if to a public assembly, with logos of different organizations
Close-up of newspaper "Peninsula Pelican" with headline, "Safety Checks Start Tomorrow"
Young androgynous woman dressed in worker's jumpsuit, swinging a hammer at a headlight.
San Franciscan hillside shot of young men working on cars, Golden Gate Bridge in the background
Shot of San Francisco from waterfront at the end of Golden Gate Bridge, nice shot of bridge
Young woman talking to police officer, pointing at clipboard
teen-age girl typing
Young woman being interviewed by television announcer, KRON-TV channel 4 TV camera with cameraman
Radio interview with radio microphone
men with serious faces, mostly in gray suits
Close-up of face of gas tank, numbers turning
four San Francisco policemen, chatting
Personalities: Freddie Agavasian (?) one of the country's top racing drivers
"Rolling up onto Bayshore Highway", sign for San Jose, Los Angeles and U.S. 101 South, Coca-Cola billboard in background
Shots driving down freeway through San Francisco
Woman's foot in loafer letting up on gas
Scenic shot of San Francisco, shot from Twin Peaks (?)
Cable cars
Chinatown
Bay Bridge
Embarcadero
Aerial shot from top of Golden Gate Bridge, looking down
Driving in residential area in Marin County
Close-up of speedometer, mileage turning to 10,320.5
Car entering tunnel with the writing, "Two Way Traffic, and Keep Right"
Approaching Polk and Hayes streets for the finish of the competition
Shot from above of young woman checking her wristwatch
Marching band in red playing, baton twirler in pink, waving her baton
Outdoor luncheon on long tables, many rows and wooden chairs
"Computing machines", woman punching in numbers on oversize adding machine
Teenagers receiving trophies
High school students crowded in hallway looking at papers posted on wall
Street in the Sunset District
Newspaper headline, "High School Drivers Astound with Results in Safety Economy Run"

Teenagers Teens Adolescents Automobiles Cars Fuel Economy Gasoline San Francisco Bay Area, California Golden Gate Bridge Cities Roads Highways Cruising Restaurants Malt shops Driving Contests Competition Boys Girls Safety Danger Lurks
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